Broken Mirrors and Broken Hearts
by stydiasezrias
Summary: When the liars find out Ali is 'A', they all move on together, away from Ali. But when Ali and Emily can't stop thinking about it each other, they start a relationship, while trying to hide it from the other liars. However what happens when one of them doesn't want to keep it a secret anymore?
1. Broken Mirrors and Broken Hearts

She slips her pale deadly fingers through the thick auburn layers of Emily's hair, while she dozes off into a trance. The golden sunshine caresses through the curtains; capturing the room in an autumn glow. Emily stirs around as Ali whispers for her to come back to reality.

"Em" she says softly, as she leans towards her, to catch any remaining scent of her perfume

"Em" she repeats, this time it's said with more love and lust in mind.

Emily opens her gloomy woeful eyes, and straight in front of her she sees mystical blue ones staring right back at her; filled with admiration and desire. Ali lunges forward, and captures Emily in a passionate kiss. Ali thrusts away, and leaps from the bed, with a blanket around her for warmth, in order to shut the gaping window.

Last night they fell asleep fully clothed, and wrapped in each other's warm embrace. They both knew it could be a while before they see each other next, so they made the most of the night. For in this town, you need to prepare for the worst, just to survive the best.

Emily had gotten used to these improvised situations over the past few months, all the sneaking and lying, just so the other liars wouldn't find out about them. Many a time Ali had suggested that Emily told them. But they weren't Ali's friends, (not anymore at least), so it wasn't her decision. But this morning almost as though on queue Ali couldn't bite her tongue any longer, so for what seemed to Emily to be the 100th time this month, she opened her cherry blossom lips and asked if they could tell them.

"Please Em" Ali begs Emily. Emily, whom has now turned around so she doesn't face Ali, is welling up inside, desperate to shout at her, but she keeps her composure.

"I don't want to hide anymore" her voice cracks slightly as she says the following words "I love you".

Emily's face slides from one of anger into one of disbelief. She'd always had her doubts that Ali was playing her, like before, but now she had proof, by saying those words, Ali has just given Emily the key to her heart.

"Em" she murmurs "did you hear what I said?" How someone so beautiful and special could be so broken and hurt inside was a mystery to her. Her hands are shaking from anticipation, what if Emily doesn't love her and this is all payback, because of her evil schemes. She knows I had no choice, Ali bellows in her head.

Emily turns around gradually, and opens her watermelon pink mouth slightly; the words come out almost as if she's rehearsed them a thousand times.

"I've got to go" Emily confesses, she grabs her lilac covered bag and hurtles towards the door.

BOOM! Ali looks up from her feet to see Emily sprawled across the floor, and her mirror smashed from the fall.

"EM", Ali yells "are you alright?" Ali rushes to help, but Emily pushes her aside, and scrambles up by herself.

"I'm fine" Emily declares, without out daring to look at Ali again, she leaves, but not before Ali had looked in her eyes and seen a look of self-pity and pain, a look she knew all too well, as it was the one that faces her in the broken mirror before her. Ali is still standing like a statue, shock spreading through her veins. For those words didn't come out in a struggle, they were perfectly prepared. Not a word out of place, or a second out of time. It seems as though with all this practice, Emily had exceeded in the arts of manipulation and lies. For they weren't the words she meant, but the words that stopped her getting hurt by the same girl twice.


	2. The Morning After the Night Before

During the night Ali had thrown her mauve duvet across the room in frustration of the previous day. So today she lies on her mattress, her arm is trapped underneath the plump pillow and her knees bending at a an angle. She slips gently into semi-consciousness and rolls around to face the bed, she outstretches her right arm as usual, expecting to feel the warmth of Emily's body pulse through her. But her hand swipes the surrounding air and Ali realizes that yesterday wasn't a dream.

She said them, she'd said those three little words. She never knew the true meaning of them until now, when Emily had turned her back on her that day, she hadn't just broken her mirror on the way out, but she'd also broken her heart.

Ali screams into her pillow, her anger had got the better of her. Suddenly she hears footsteps clambering up the stairs, she jumps out of bed and grabs her baseball bat ready to pounce. Her heart was beating out of her chest, what's left of her heart anyway. As the door gradually opens, Ali prepares herself, she takes a step forward – ready to spring on her attacker. As a bulky figure enters the room, Ali doesn't think to look who it is, she swings her bat; aiming right for their nose. The bulky figure ducks just in time, as the bat scrapes the top of their short tidy hair. Shock covers all of his face, as he looks up at his only daughter, and sees once again his little girl. It reminds him of the time when Ali was 7, and she was scared of someone coming to get her in the night. So he went outside in pouring rain, opened up a rusty old lid and brought her some sand. He put it in a box beside her bed, and he whispered in her ear, that if someone comes to get her, to grab a pinch of the 'magic monster dust' as he called it, and throw it over the monster, and then she would be safe. Since that night, he had never seen any such fear in her eyes as he had since her return home.

"Dad?" Ali questions. "Is that you?". Her father had heard Ali's screams and come to check everything was okay. Ali reassures him that everything is okay several times and when she finally convinces him to go, he leaves promptly.

Ali glances at her gold watch which Emily had let her borrow and sighs heavily. 4 pm, Ali had spent the last 3 hours staring at her computer screen, waiting for the light emitting diode to turn green, waiting for Emily to get online. Ali couldn't take it anymore, she turns of her computer, grabs her red cardigan (which matched perfectly with her ruby skirt and sapphire blouse), and heads out. She slams the front door so vigorously on her way out that her house number shakes on it's hinges. Ali's pace quickens rapidly, as she only had once place in her mind. One place she needs to be.

As the door opens, the bell in the corner goes off, signalling her arrival. She scans the room hurriedly. She should be here, she announces to herself. A friendly voice interrupts her inner monologue.

"Hello, what can I get you?" a young man with hair the colour of straw inquires.

Ali hasn't been paying attention, but she thinks maybe a drink could calm her nerves. "One large coffee please."

The man, looks down at her shaking hands, and looks back up into her entrancing eyes. "Decaf?" he queries, she looks down at her own hands, and realizes that caffeine probably wouldn't make her situation any better, not that it could get much worse though.

Ali grabs her drinks, and heads towards a table by the window. She'll be here soon she reassures herself.

* * *

Meanwhile three streets away, Emily rose after a sleepless night filled with regret and dread of what she said and did. As she got out of bed she caught a glimpse of her own reflection, the dark circles under her eyes growing by the second. She rose her shirt above her head and flung it across the room, onto a pile of dirty laundry. After undressing she grabbed her towel and strolled into the shower and drew the curtains.

PING. Ali had PING been constantly messa PING ging her since PING yesterday. She decided to turn her computer off, she could last a day without it.

She grabbed her brown satchel and apron and headed to work. 11:45, she was meant to be there by now. She slid into her old petite car, and fumbled trying to get the right key into the keyhole, on her third attempt she managed to succeed. She turned the key and the engine roared.

She arrived at work 7 minutes late, the bell in the corner rattling vigorously as she entered. She tied her apron tightly around her slimmed waist and began her shift by cleaning the tables. She spent most of the next 4 hours in the back room, checking the inventory. When she came out into the café, she turned to her right and saw Ezra, he was holding an old tattered book, which had obviously been read consistently, in his tight grasp. On the front cover, the words 'The Great Gatsby' smothered the page.

She hadn't seen him in over a week, she was just on her way over to the table, when she saw Aria walk out of the restroom. Emily stepped back in hesitation, she thought of yesterday and realized that she couldn't cope with seeing them. It would feel like she chose them over Ali, but she could never do that. But it was too late, Aria had already seen her.

"Em" Aria calls. It didn't feel the same hearing those words come out of someone's mouth who wasn't Ali. "Come over" she announces.

Emily strolls over to their corner table, already thinking of an excuse to leave. "Hi, I was actually just.." Emily starts.

"Don't be silly" Ezra interrupts, "join us".

Emily pulled up a chair and sat across from the happy couple. She admired the way they're so normal, they can be together and they have nothing to hide. How she wished her and Ali could be like them. Then she realized – they could have been like them. Ali had suggested they live like them, not caring what others around them thought. She was the one who had turned it down, who had pushed away the one person who loved her no matter what. She had denied herself the privilege of love.

Emily stood up, all the blood rushing to her head, but she didn't care for she knew what she had to do. She placed the tray on the table to her left, untied her apron, and threw it over the tray. She got in her car, succeeding in starting the engine the first time, and headed back the way she came. Her house stood out from the rest, it glowed, like she did. She parked her car further down the street, so no one knew she was here. She ran down the road, pulling her hood up as she ran. She rushed to the door, her fist inches from the hard wooden frame, then she pulled back. She caught a ladder in the corner of her eye which lead to her room. She rushed up the ladder, careful to keep her balance as she reached the top.

Emily knocked repeatedly on the door, but no response came. Then she heard a bang from behind her, she wasn't balanced enough to turn around, but she climbed through Ali's slightly ajar window. When she scrambled through the window she turned around and saw Ali's sun-kissed hair spill down beside her face, framing it perfectly. It was almost as glossy and smooth as satin. It reached down just barely touching her shoulder, and bounced as she walked.

Emily ran down the stairs and followed the exact path that Ali had taken. Her dark chocolate strands spilled down from on top of her head curling at the touch of her shoulders. It tickled her face as the wind blew gently past her body. The way it hung and framed her face was as if she was a model.

* * *

Now Ali has been waiting for 3 minutes, but I seems like 3 hours. Every second seems like infinity to her. She hasn't even touched her coffee yet, the uncertainty of Emily is controlling her body and every impulse in her. Every time the bell in the corner rings, her eyes dart up immediately, hoping and wishing to see her familiar face looking back at her.

Emily could see Ali, her fingers brushing against her scalp, caressing her own hair, behind her ear. Her heart is beating in time with her watch, every second on the second. She takes a deep breath and run through the door. The bell in the corner signals Ali to her presence.

Ali stands up, almost knocking her coffee all over herself, but she doesn't care. All she cares about is the face staring back at her. Emily drops her bag on the floor and runs to Ali, pressing her cherry lips against hers.

"I'm sorry" Ali whispers in between kisses.

"I love you, I do" Emily confesses, "I don't care what the others think, I only care what you think". Ali breathes in and pulls her closer. They pull apart and they don't even realize all eyes in the room are on them, they are too entranced with each other, that they can't see anyone else around them. They're living in a world of their own, where they can't be disturbed.


	3. How It All Began

So far all she's managed are longing glances and endless hopes. Emily reaches for the popcorn, utterly absorbed in the eyes which are glaring deeply into the TV, not realizing the pair of hands gliding towards the crunchy snack at the same time. Up until now this movie night has been one temptation after another, wanting desperately to graze her smooth frosty hand across the couch and onto the warm scentious ones of the girl she loved. Her heart had been filled with wishes since the others weren't invited, this was just for them, their little secret.

She snaps back into reality, realizing the heat indulged body coming towards her. Within moments their hands were brushing gently, neither of them daring the avert their attention from each other, the miraculous display that Angelina Jolie was putting on was nonsense in the background to these two now. Alison softly rubbed the base of her thumb across Emily's hand until their fingers were intertwined and there was no gaps in between the two palms. During this everlasting pause, Emily suddenly knew that Alison felt the same way and in that moment a single strand of hair flew over her face, and she held her breathe, daring not the spoil the moment, Alison's body inches closer with each second passing, until her hands are cupping Emily's face and the strand of hair is positioned delicately in it's home of mahogany straw.

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

A sudden realization strikes across each of their faces. New years eve. Emily closes her eyes and wishes for the same thing she's been wanting since she first laid eyes on the mesmerizing girl in front of her. Just as she was about to open her eyes, she takes a moment to prepare incase wishes really do come true and for the beauty that will be facing her. However instead she felt a tingling sensation and slight breeze across her lips.

But the rest shall remain locked away, so demanding and impertinent eyes are absolved from becoming witness. Let's just say that wishes sometimes do come true.


	4. The Unveiling of a Secret

The symphonies of sounds emerging from her fingertips are bashing harmonious beats across the table. They're due here any moment, and Emily can't stay still. Her eyes seem bruised and battered, from the sleepless night before, dreading telling them. How was she going to put it into words? They wouldn't understand, they don't understand. You'd think that after everything they've been through together that they would know what it's like to need someone like she needs Alison. But they won't listen to Ali and give her a second chance, so now it's Emily's turn. Her hands are shaking from the caffeine overdose in her body, despite not managing to rest, she has no idea what she was going to say, every way she tried to start to explain was hopeless. A bang echoes from the hallway and a murmur of wind sneaks into the kitchen, sending shivers down her spine.

"Emily", a voice shrieks. "Are you okay? We got your message." Emily, now realizing this voice belonged to Spencer, hoped she'd understand, after all she'll be the hardest to convince.

"In here" Emily responds. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, opening her eyes just in time to see her 3 closest friends emerge from the hallway.

"Is everything okay?" Hanna mumbles, as if not wanting to wake the ghost in the corner.

"Yes and no" Emily replies, god this is going to be harder than she hoped. "I have something to tell you."

"Is it about 'A'? What have they done?" Spencer inquired.

"It's not about 'A', it's about Ali", Everyone's eyes were quickly on Emily, and to avoid suspicion she added "...son, Alison".

Spencer, who is leaning backward, does not want to be associated with that name; Emily knew her concentration has dropped considerably. "What about her?" Hanna queries.

"We…I… erm… well we" Emily stutters.

"I know" Aria announces, speaking for the first time since entering the house.

Emily's face turns apple red and her eyes, covered with shame and guilt, look to Aria as if asking for forgiveness. "But how?" Emily whispers.

"We were there"

Suddenly Emily's mind flashes back to yesterday, when just before she left, Aria and Ezra had been soaking up the good life, admiring books and basking in the glory that is love. How could she have forgotten?

Finally Spencer pipes up, "What are you talking about?"

Emily inhales, trying to calm her senses, and just as she is about to speak another voice interrupts her thought.

"Yesterday afternoon, Ezra and I were in the café when Alison came storming in, causing quite a commotion, I don't know what she was thinking, she went straight for Emily. Luckily our girl over here, stood her ground, I'm not surprised you're not alright, I'd be quite shaken if I were you."

"Why didn't you call us, do you want us to stay over tonight?" Hanna suggested.

"No really, I'm quite alright" Emily responded. She was now free to spend the night with Ali, and who knew where that would lead them too. Her mind went elsewhere dreaming of tonight, while the others mumbled on about nonsense amongst themselves.

Emily, not sure what just happened and whether to be happy or confused, is definitely glad she has a friend like Aria around. On her friends' departure, Aria turns around and gives an 'I forgive you' smile, Emily sighs with relief knowing that at least Aria understands.

She picks up her phone and dials the number she knows off by heart. A warm voice answers, one which you'd imagine would sing opera harmonically.

"Are we still on for tonight, gorgeous?" Emily sings, and for once in her life, she thinks nothing can go wrong, not when Alison is in her life. She's the light in her darkness and boy was she excited for tonight, who knows what might happen?


End file.
